Certificate Renews Scrutiny of Omar’s Former Marriage

A 1997 British marriage certificate has renewed scrutiny of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s former marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, but the document does not establish that the two were related. Omar said in an October 21 television interview that she knew of no family link to Elmi, and the records cited in the dispute make no finding of a sibling relationship. The certificate names Leila Nur Said Elmi as the bride and lists her father as Nur Said Elmi, whose occupation is recorded as military officer. It does not name Omar. Reports have connected Leila to Omar as a possible sister and suggested that the father named on the certificate was also Omar’s father, but those family links are not established by the document. Omar’s answer came during an interview with host Chris Hayes, who asked whether she was related to Elmi. She replied, “Not to my knowledge,” and described accounts that she had introduced him as her brother as insane. Omar has previously denied that she fraudulently married a relative. A Hennepin County divorce decree records the dissolution of Omar and Elmi’s civil marriage, with judgment entered on December 4, 2017. The decree addresses the marriage’s dissolution, not...